Just Started Now What

[Z750Jay]

Now I have got X Plane 10 and can take off and just about land ( still coming too low or too fast!) what does everyone do? What would be best to pursue while I am still getting to grips with things?

It's like I have opened the door to a whole new world and I am overwhelmed by the possibilities.

I am leaning towards short hop cargo bush pilot stuff but not too sure which country to get add on scenery for etc. Any ideas or your own experiences would be a great help

[Andyrooc]

BC is an avid Alaskan bush pilot:

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=13325

http://www.unex-planedapps.com/

[w9nwrwi]

When I started out with x-plane, I stuck with the default C172 for a while. I paged through the instruction manual, but I feel most strongly that you understand your Settings and how they affect your sim.

You might want to tell the group what your computer specs are, motherboard, video card, RAM. Some high settings with low spec computer will not make you happy and you might get discouraged.

Some add-on Alaska scenery and airports (free stuff) are available.

 

The forums are full of information, read till your eyes water!!

 

Great folks here, always willing to help. Just have to ask.

 

Chuck

[Z750Jay]

currently I am running stuff on a Toshiba Laptop. Its not too bad as it has an early i5 processor 4G of RAM and a dedicated graphics card. I will be either changing to a better laptop or building a dedicated PC as I can not update the graphics drivers as Toshiba no longer support it. Hoping to get the wifey to agree to the PC, she has already said that I have a £2000 budget for the laptop so things are looking good.

[Mario Donick]

I think before all technical stuff, the most important question is: Where do you want to fly -- and why?

[Z750Jay]

Hmm good point. I think I want to fly someplace like New Zealand where I grew up and anywhere with mountains/rugged terrain. I fly as I enjoy the difficulties and complexities that are involved plus I enjoy being up there. Probably going VFR but will try all the rest to see if I enjoy that as well.

Like I said, I feel I have a whole new world to explore and enjoy

[Andyrooc]

Ah, that's most excellent.

 

http://www.alpilotx.net/

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=10922 (Nelson)

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=2920 (Bush Strip)

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6551 (Queenstown)

 

and theres a few more too

[Mario Donick]

Ah, that's most excellent.

 

http://www.alpilotx.net/

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=10922 (Nelson)

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=2920 (Bush Strip)

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=6551 (Queenstown)

 

and theres a few more too

 

Don't forget Christchurch and Auckland:

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=17367 (Auckland)

http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php/files/file/122-nzch-christchurch-airport-photo-scenery-xp10-isdg/ (Christchurch)

http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php/files/file/121-nzch-christchurch-openstreetmap-osm2xp-building-enhancement-xp9xp10-isdg/ (Christchurch OSM buildings)

 

You might also consider to install appropriate ground textures from PilotBalu's website:

 

http://simheaven.com/?page_id=208&wpfb_file=65 (Auckland)

http://simheaven.com/?page_id=208&wpfb_file=67 (Christchurch)

 

(Very big files, but with great detail (zoomlevel 17). Please only download 1 file at a time from simheaven.com; as bandwidth is limited. You can use a download manager, though, to continue interrupted downloads.)

 

Be careful of the correct order when installing all that stuff. Alphabetically, airports go first, then OSM buildings, then ground textures and finally Alpilot's hires mesh.

 

Easiest is to put "zz" to the OSM building folder names, "zzz" to the ground texture folder names and "zzzz" to the mesh folder names. Then delete the .ini and let X-Plane do the sorting.

 

(Simplified example from my Custom Scenery:

 

NZCH Christchurch

zz_OSM_Christchurch

zz_NZ_Overlays by alpilotx

zzz_Orthophoto_Auckland

zzz_Orthophoto_Christchurch

zzz_NZ_Mesh by alpilotx )

[Andyrooc]

I hadn't considered Christchurch or Auckland as "...short hop cargo bush pilot stuff...", but I guess if you're a New Yorker or something, they may seem less city and more bush...?

[w9nwrwi]

Should not the OP consider his hardware?   Personally I would be suspect of using a dedicated graphics card and the Toshiba drivers that he says he cannot update.  Some of the latest addon scenry can really tax a GPU. 

The scenery is great but it will struggle with the present graphics card I would think.

 

Chuck

[Mario Donick]

Should not the OP consider his hardware?   Personally I would be suspect of using a dedicated graphics card and the Toshiba drivers that he says he cannot update.  Some of the latest addon scenry can really tax a GPU. 

The scenery is great but it will struggle with the present graphics card I would think.

 

Chuck

 

True.

 

I have an i5 with a Nvidia GT530 with 2 GB RAM, and 8 GB normal RAM, and I can run such awesome scenery in

 

- 1920x1080

- extrem texture res

- low world detail distance

- tons of objects

- Sibirian cars

- per pixel lightning

- trees filled in

- water reflections "medium"

 

only with HDR and antialiasing both off.

 

With these settings, I have 20 to 25 FPS everywhere, regardless of airplane and weather (except visibility should be max. 15-20 nm), be it New York with 3 airports, or HD New Zealand, or Alaska with lots of water, reflections and cloudy sky.

 

For me, it's really antialiasing which is the biggest performance hit; the textures don't matter very much. Reducing the resolution is a no-go, because of the blurry screen I'd get by doing so. Updating the graphics card is also not possible; I'd need to get a new mainboard and new chassis first.

 

But I decided to spend the money for some Saitek hardware addons instead.

Edited March 19, 2013 by mariodonick

[w9nwrwi]

Its kind of tough first starting out with XPX if your hardware is not up to par and you looking for the biggest bang for your buck/pound/yen. Took me about a year slowly adding $$ and then hardware to get my fairly high rendering settings.

 

Well the OP has some good guidance from the above posters for NZ scenery et al.

Hope he comes back to tell us how he is doing.  Lots of variables to deal with.

[Mario Donick]

Its kind of tough first starting out with XPX if your hardware is not up to par and you looking for the biggest bang for your buck/pound/yen.

 

But maybe it's not always wise to "look for the biggest bang" -- this distracts from what really matters. I mean, maybe he just wants to learn how to fly a simulated plane and all that eye candy is only secondary?

[Z750Jay]

Primarily I want to learn to fly and luckily as its time to change my laptop the eye candy capacities will be a bonus.

Still trying to workout my set up that will be ok with the wife - I would love to have the cockpit setups of some people but mine will have to be portable/easily broken down due to space and wifey. She does not want me to disappear for hours at a time in a different room so I have to fly while she watches TV.

The past few days have been spent reading up on flying basics etc, but hark the wife has just got in and as its her birthday I had better give her some attention!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Mario Donick]

She does not want me to disappear for hours at a time in a different room so I have to fly while she watches TV.

 

Hehe. 

 

Maybe do a repaint of your favorite plane with her name on it, some pink or red color, and a heart or some roses. Then show her that plane, tell her you named it after her and that you're exploring destinations for your next holiday

 

Works fine for me/us. 

[Z750Jay]

unfortunately she just looked over my shoulder when I read that - she just went Hmmmmmmm!

[Mario Donick]

unfortunately she just looked over my shoulder when I read that - she just went Hmmmmmmm!